Many British mulberry trees have associations with famous people,[1] and while evidence sometimes survives to confirm these associations, this is not always the case. The Bethnal Green mulberry is the subject of an unconfirmed tradition linking it to the ill-famed Bishop Bonner – known as Bloody Bonner.
The exact age of the tree is unknown but is thought to be at least 200 years old and may be over 400 years old making it the oldest tree in the East End. If the Bishop Bonner tradition is correct, it may be around 500 years old and the oldest black mulberry in the United Kingdom.
From 2017 to 2021, the tree was the subject of a successful community campaign to resist a developer application to move the tree, an action the campaigners argued risked the death of the tree.
The site
The East London site of the former London Chest Hospital, just east of Bonner Road has a long history. Roman bricks and tiles were found on the site in the mid-19th century, suggesting a high status Romano-British site.
The spot was later used as the manor house of the Manor (estate) of Stepney, which covered much of what would later become the East End. The Lords of the Manor had been the Bishops of London who held the Manor long before Domesday,[2] with Stepney possibly part of the foundation grant of land when the Diocese of London was re-established (as the East Saxon see) in 604.[3] The first surviving record of the Bishop's having a residence on their Stepney estate (which included Bethnal Green at that time) is from 1207.[4]
At one time the Manor House was known as Bishop's Wood, later as Bishop's Hall.[5] Bishop's Hall was demolished in the mid 19th century and replaced by the London Chest Hospital which was opened in 1855, by a group of mostly Quaker philanthropists. The hospital's chapel was erected adjacent to the tree.
The tree
The line of Bishops who held Stepney included saints, such as Cedd and Dunstan, but in the mid-sixteenth century, Bishop Edmund Bonner – or Bloody Bonner became notorious for his persecution of Protestants, during a period of mutual intolerance. There is a tradition that Bonner sat beneath a mulberry tree while deciding which heretics to burn.[6] In Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1563, the Bishop is depicted flogging a martyr next to a sapling.
In the archive of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel there is an inkwell made in 1911 from a preserved slice of a tree, which is recorded as having been taken from a broken bough of a mulberry 'reputed to be that under which Bishop Bonner went to sit in the cool of the evening'.[5][7] If Bonner’s tree is not the current Bethnal Green mulberry tree, it could be a scion of that tree.[5][8] Mulberry trees do not lose boughs until they have reached an age of around 120 years, and a young tree is unlikely to attract a tradition, even a false one, linking it to a figure from the distant past. An arbocultural assessment therefore concluded that the latest reasonable origin of the tree was from around 1800. Estimating the maximum age of veteran trees is very challenging, especially in this case, with the damage the tree had sustained over the years; but 350–400 years was seen as most likely (making it the oldest tree in the East End),[5][9][7] with even older estimates, such as those linking the tree to Bonner, also plausible.
A photograph in the Royal London Hospital Archives shows nurses dancing round the Bethnal Green Mulberry in the hospital grounds in 1944.[5] In 1945, in the last few months of the Second World War, a bomb fell on the adjacent chapel, the chapel was destroyed and the tree, though damaged, survived. Charring can still be seen on the tree today.[7]
Black Mulberry
The black mulberry isn't native to the British Isles and rarely grows from seed; it usually needs to be carefully propagated from cuttings. Once established though, black mulberry trees can be long lived, with the oldest known example, a healthy specimen at Syon House, recorded as being planted in 1548.[10]
Today mulberries are best known for their use as food, notably in jam, but the Romans – who introduced the tree to Britain – valued it as a medicinal plant, useful for its effects on the gastro-intestinal system. This usage was maintained by monasteries who were the main source of medical care in medieval England.[11][12]
The black mulberry became associated, particularly in the East End, with the silk weaving industry, which was originally brought to England by Protestant Huguenot refugees from France in the time of Henry VIII in the early 16th century.[13] This migration gathered pace in the 17th century, with extensive settlement in the East End – especially Bethnal Green, Bishopsgate Without and Spitalfields – making the area a major centre silk weaving centre.[14] Silk weaving was carried out producing imported raw materials, but in the early sixteenth century, James VI and I, keen to promote the industry encouraged the widespread planting on mulberries in an attempt to end that dependence by providing a foodstuff for the silkworm. The attempt to produce British raw materials for the industry was largely unsuccessful. Despite this mulberries were still planted for ornamental purposes, being highly prized for their shade giving properties.[15]
The importance of the textiles industry to the East End led to the inclusion of a sprig of mulberry in the coat of arms of the London borough of Tower Hamlets (together with a weavers shuttle).[16] The mulberry is also included in tribute to the Huguenot refugees.[17] Mulberry leaves and berries were also included in Tower Hamlets street signs for a time, with many of these surviving.[18] In 2016, the then Bishop of London, planted a black mulberry at Christ Church, Spitalfields, describing the species as emblematic of the prosperity brought by migrants.[19]
Proposed site redevelopment
In April 2015 the London Chest Hospital closed and the site was purchased by a housing developer.[20] In early 2017 the developer obtained permission from Tower Hamlets Council's Arboricultural team to relocate the mulberry tree, prior to submitting a planning application to redevelop the hospital and surrounding grounds.[7] These plans were opposed by campaigners from the East End Waterway Group.[21]
The Bethnal Green mulberry is subject to a Tree preservation order, issued by Tower Hamlets Council.[22] In 2017 a Judicial Review was brought, arguing that the age of the tree had been underestimated – that it was in fact a veteran tree, and would be covered by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which states that "development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats (such as ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees) should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists".[23] It was argued that the risks associated with moving a veteran tree meant that permission to relocate it ought not to have been granted.[24] Tower Hamlets Council agreed and the plans were temporarily suspended.[25]
In a lecture on the mulberry tree given in March 2018, Julian Forbes Laird (of Forbes Laird Arboricultural Consultancy) described the relocation plan as "unlikely to succeed. The tree will either fall apart or die, or possibly both".[5]
A petition titled 'Save the Bethnal Green Mulberry' was launched in 2017 by the East End Preservation Society. It had reached 10,000 signatures by September 2018. In addition, Tower Hamlets council received three hundred letters of objection.[26] At the time of the 2011 census there were 13,683 residents in Bethnal Green.[27]
The planning application, including relocation of the mulberry tree, went to Tower Hamlets planning committee in September 2018.[28][9] Three councillors voted to reject the plans and four voted to approve (with one abstention),[26] and the tree was agreed be relocated to the lawn in front of the old hospital entrance.[9]
On 21 May 2021, the High Court quashed the grant of planning permission and listed building consent for the redevelopment.[29] High Court judge Sir Duncan Ouseley said the council's planning committee had "misinterpreted" planning policy when it considered whether the tree would die if it was moved and the "material consideration was ignored".[30]
Related Research Articles
Bethnal Green is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By the 16th century the term applied to a wider rural area, the Hamlet of Bethnal Green, which subsequently became a Parish, then a Metropolitan Borough before merging with neighbouring areas to become the north-western part of the new Tower Hamlets.
Stepney is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name applied to a much larger manor and parish. Stepney Green is a remnant of a larger area of Common Land formerly known as Mile End Green.
Whitechapel is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough town centre. Whitechapel is located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of Charing Cross.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough of London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of the regenerated London Docklands area. The 2019 mid-year population for the borough is estimated at 324,745.
Spitalfields is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street and Brick Lane. It has several markets, including Spitalfields Market, the historic Old Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Petticoat Lane Market. The area has a long attracted migrants from overseas, including many Jews, whose presence gained the area the 19th century nickname of Little Jerusalem.
Brick Lane is a famous street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, most commercially active part which runs through Spitalfields, or along its eastern edge. Brick Lane's southern end is connected to Whitechapel High Street by a short extension called Osborn Street.
Victoria Park is a park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England.
Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. It is 4.2 miles (6.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road called Mile End Road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London.
Bethnal Green and Bow is a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.
Cambridge Heath is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, approximately 5.7 km (3.5 mi) north east of Charing Cross. It is named after a former heath in the East End of London. The northern boundary is formed by the Regent's Canal and the area includes Vyner Street, best known for its street art and galleries.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in spite of being close to the centre of London and perhaps retaining the idea of it being the docklands area, has over 100 areas of parks and open spaces within its boundaries. These range from the huge to small gardens and squares. In common with all the London boroughs, these green spaces provide "lungs" for the leisure pursuits of the inhabitants.
Bethnal Green and Stepney was a parliamentary constituency in Greater London, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.
Mulberry Academy Shoreditch is a comprehensive co-educational academy for students aged between 11–18 in the Bethnal Green neighbourhood of the Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London.
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have universally accepted boundaries on its north and east sides, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London. The term "East of Aldgate Pump" is sometimes used as a synonym for the area.
Columbia Road Flower Market is a street market in Bethnal Green in London, England. Columbia Road is a road of Victorian shops situated off Hackney Road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The market is open on Sundays only.
Mile End New Town is a former hamlet and then civil parish in the East End of London. Its former area is now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
St Barnabas Bethnal Green is a late 19th-century church in Bow in London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London. The church is at the junction of Roman Road and Grove Road in the Bow West ward of London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The Commercial Tavern is a pub at 142 Commercial Street, Spitalfields, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Mulberry Place, formerly Tower Hamlets Town Hall, is a building in Nutmeg Lane, Blackwall, London. It was the headquarters of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council from 1992 to 2023, before their relocation to the new Tower Hamlets Town Hall in Whitechapel Road.
↑ 'Stepney: Manors and Estates', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T. F. T. Baker (London, 1998), pp. 19–52. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp19-52 [accessed 7 December 2021].
↑ 'Stepney: Settlement and Building to c. 1700', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T. F. T. Baker (London, 1998), pp. 13–19. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 [accessed 6 December 2021].
↑ 'Industries: Silk-weaving', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2, General; Ashford, East Bedfont With Hatton, Feltham, Hampton With Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, ed. William Page (London, 1911), pp. 132–137. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol2/pp132-137 [accessed 10 December 2021].
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